Now shall we say that only the first men were well alive, and the existing generation is invalided and degenerate? ... A more subtle and severe criticism might suggest that some dislocation has befallen the race; that men are off their centre; that multitudes of men do not live with Nature, but behold it as exiles. People go out to look at sunrises and sunsets who do not recognize their own quietly and happily, but know that it is foreign to them. As they do by books, so they quote the sunset and the star, and do not make them theirs. Worse yet, they live as foreigners in the world of truth, and quote thoughts, and thus disown them. Quotation confesses inferiority.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Emerson argues that modern people feel disconnected from nature and truth, treating them as foreign concepts rather than lived experiences. He suggests that quoting others' thoughts instead of generating them shows a lack of genuine engagement with reality.
- In plain terms
- People often feel like outsiders in the world and rely on others' words instead of living truthfully themselves.
- What can you take from it?
- Live authentically instead of borrowing thoughts or observing life from a distance.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How often do you borrow ideas instead of forming your own?
- Do you feel connected to the natural world?
Another view
Some people may find value in learning from others rather than creating everything from scratch.
More from Ralph Waldo Emerson
By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote.
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